Published 12:26 am, Friday, October 22, 2010

But the board says Carey's being high maintenance and county elections officials have gone out of their way to pacify him.

In June, Carey blasted the board's recordkeeping when its commissioners informed him that, contrary to his belief, he was not a registered Republican.

That setback, however, motivated Carey to mount a petition drive to secure an independent ballot line, which he dubbed the Reform line.

Carey picked a scales of justice, leaning to the right, as its ballot emblem.

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But when the county began dispatching its absentee ballots, Carey was irked to find out that his name appeared to be listed on the Green Party line, which elections officials attributed to crowding at the bottom of ballot due to a proliferation of minor-party candidates.

Democratic Elections Commissioner Matthew Clyne said nothing was wrong with how Carey's name was listed and that Carey is not entitled to have his party line name and logo listed on the left-hand side of the ballot because the Reform line is not actually a political party.

Nonetheless, the board remedied the issue on Row F of the general election ballot, splitting it horizontally between the Green Party and Reform line.

But in doing so, Carey alleges, the board deliberately used the wrong scales of justice -- this one narrower and tilted to the left -- to confuse voters. Once again, the board changed the ballot.

"I picked a justice scale that could be one be seen as ... tilted toward the right, meaning that I'm fighting for what's right and just," Carey said, alleging that it was part of an ongoing effort by Republicans and Democrats to stifle his campaign. "I believe (they) purposely used a different emblem."

Clyne dismissed Carey's allegation, noting the board constructed its ballots the same way as other counties and had the commissioners wanted to, they could have put Carey's name even lower on the ballot.

"He's not being screwed," Clyne said. "He's convinced that there is a conspiracy against him. That's how the ballot is. It's a busy ballot. I know he wants everything his way. And we did accommodate him, and we didn't have to do that," Clyne said, noting that what Carey is accusing him and Republican Commissioner John A. Graziano of doing is likely a crime.

"It's just a way to get cheap PR," Clyne added. "That's my assessment of it."

Stop and go

The speed at which rumors fly in the days before an election practically approaches the sound barrier. And before you know it: sonic boom.

Insider was besieged with whispers Thursday about Sen. Neil Breslin's encounter with State Police -- much of it, apparently, untrue.

For the sake of quieting the chorus, here are the facts -- as relayed by Breslin through Austin Shafran, a spokesman for the Senate Democrat.

"He was pulled over, initially, because a car cut him off," Shafran said. "A car abruptly pulled out of a parking lot in front of the senator, cutting him off, at which point the senator had flashed his high beams, and a state trooper pulled him over for flashing his high beams."

A second person familiar with Breslin's explanation said the incident happened in the area of the off-ramp from Interstate 787 to Route 9W.

According to Shafran, Breslin provided his license and registration to the trooper and at the request of the trooper took and passed a field-sobriety test.

"No tickets were issued, no charges were filed, the senator was thanked for his time," Shafran said. He said Breslin had "absolutely not" been drinking.

Sgt. Kern Swoboda, a State Police spokesman, said it's counter to agency policy to even confirm whether a trooper stopped the senator.

"We don't comment on any traffic stop that doesn't result in an arrest," Swoboda said.

Calsolaro is incensed Jennings is claiming his budget is $159 million -- $3 million less than last year -- rather than $165 million, $3 million more. At issue is how the city accounts for debt payments and the use of $5 million in debt reserves.

Rather than reflect the city's $18 million in debt payments, Jennings' budget trimmed the number to $13 million, the total minus the $5 million reserve. The net effect, according to Jennings' budget gurus, is the same. And the administration acknowledged that nearly half of the city's $23 million budget gap was being closed with money that won't be there next year.

But Calsolaro insists Jennings is being dishonest with city residents, who face a 7.5 percent tax increase.

"Stop lying to the citizens of Albany," Calsolaro railed at Monday's council meeting.

City Treasurer Kathy Sheehan was the first to point out the accounting maneuver but stopped short of saying she thought it was wrong. Sheehan did, however, tell the council she would prefer if the city listed the full measure of its debt payments.

"From a transparency standpoint," she said. "I do take issue with that. We need to inform taxpayers. ... Unless you read the mayor's introductory piece, you do not realize that we have not reduced our spending."